Research notes
Oli Cartlidge studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath (MEng with Honours, graduating around 2017). During his studies he was deeply involved in the Formula Student team Team Bath Racing, serving as Chassis Manager (responsible for chassis design, analysis and manufacturing) in his final year. He joined McLaren as a graduate engineer in August 2017, moving into the race strategy team roughly two years later (around 2019), initially working across the whole team;
from the 2023 season he was assigned specifically to Lando Norris, and in 2024 became a Senior Strategist. In January 2025 he was promoted to Chief Race Strategist and Head of Strategy Operations, leading race team strategy decisions and acting as the lead strategy executor for Oscar Piastri's race weekends, while also overseeing continuous operational improvement and the recruitment of young talent. Because the exact years of his move into the strategy team and his subsequent promotions are described in the media only as "two years later", "the 2023 season", "last year", etc., some are marked with ~ to indicate inference.